Waters Acquires BD’s Biosciences & Diagnostic Solutions Business: What does CiteAb Market Data reveal about the companies’ positions?
5
Min Read
In this blog:
- Discover the company perspectives
- Dive into insights from CiteAb reagent data on the market position of BD
- What is the potential impact for the life science sector?
In one of the largest life science deals in 2025, Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) recently announced the acquisition BD’s (Becton, Dickinson and Company, NYSE:BDX) BD’s Biosciences & Diagnostic Solutions business – a move valued at $17.5 bn, and set to complete early 2026.
Perspective from BD and Waters
This acquisition looks to enhance liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, flow cytometry and diagnostic solutions. Strategically, Water’s experience in analytical instruments and BD’s strong flow cytometry portfolio is a complementary fit for the two companies.
Waters has seen an increasing focus on expanding into the biosciences space in recent years. Under the leadership of CEO Udit Batra since 2020 – formerly head of Merck KGaA’s life sciences division – Waters acquired Wyatt Technology in 2023. This most recent BD deal represents yet another step in this direction.
The benefits expected from this acquisition include:
- Expansion across bioanalytical characterisation and bioseperations
- Enhanced capabilities in high volume testing markets
- Waters execution model applied to BD Bioscience & Diagnostic solutions
In summary, this acquisition aims to strengthen offerings of both companies, ultimately doubling Waters’ total addressable market.
Read the BD- Waters Acquisition Press Release.
CiteAb Insight: Life Science Market Data
To get deeper insight into the BD Waters deal and understand positioning in the wider market, we looked to our data. The CiteAb database covers 16M+ reagents and their use in 40M publications.
Waters is widely known for its analytical instruments and chromatography technologies – however their reagent footprint has historically been more limited. In contrast, BD Biosciences has an impressive footprint in the reagent space over the years.
BD: A Leader in Flow Cytometry Instruments
Zoning in on the flow cytometer instrument market, BD were clear market leaders. They hold a majority market share here – around 70% in 2024 (by citations). They have been the dominant players in this space for over a decade.
In fact, when we drilled down to the instrument level we found that BD had 8 of the top 10 flow cytometers in 2024 by citation share in publications.
Strength in Flow Cytometry Reagents + More
In the research antibody space BD ranked as the 8th most cited supplier in 2024, with a market share of around 4% across all antibody types (primary and secondary).
When we narrowed down our analysis to primary conjugated antibodies, those used in flow cytometry, we saw BD Biosciences’ rank rocket to second. They hold an impressive share of the market here, with around a fifth of citations in 2024. This underscores their expertise in reagents tailored for high-complexity, cell-based analysis.
It is worth noting that BD also have significant share of reagent use in a range of applications away from flow.
Rhys Williams, Head of Antibody Data at CiteAb, commented
“We’ll be interested to see the impact of this acquisition on the reagent space. It’s evident BD are already strong leaders across antibody and flow cytometry markets. Coupled with Waters’ expertise in instruments, it will be interesting to see whether Waters’ platforms further boost BD’s flow cytometer dominance – and if Waters gains a stronger foothold in bioscience reagents.’
Final Thoughts
This acquisition underscores how companies are continuing to refine and expand their portfolios to serve more scientists in the bioscience space. This deal builds on a pattern we have seen of consolidation of large companies in the life science space, such as the acquisition of Abcam by Danaher, and BioLegend by PerkinElmer.
We’ll continue monitoring our data and sharing updates as market shifts like this unfold. You can read past analysis into life science M&As we’ve shared here:
- 2023 M&A Analysis: BioVision and Abcam, BioLegend and Perkin Elmer and Mavarai Life Sciences and Vector Laboratories
- 2024 M&A Analysis: VION Biosciences and Echelon Biosciences, Merck and Mirus Bio, Danaher and Abcam
For more insights into reagent market trends, get in touch with the CiteAb team to learn how our data solutions can support strategy and market analysis.
